Why is alcohol a carcinogen? It can be analyzed from these two points, let's take a look!

The well-known medical journal "The Lancet. Oncology" released a research survey in 2020, which is a survey report on the burden of cancer in various countries around the world. The study shows that there are about 72 new cancer types in the world in 2020. Among them , malignant tumors such as pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, and digestive tract cancer are all related to drinking . Nearly 810,000 people have cancer, and the reason behind it is alcoholism!

　　In fact, as early as the end of the last century, the World Health Organization had already published a list of carcinogens. Researchers divided carcinogens into different levels. One of the carcinogens refers to substances that have been clearly carcinogenic to the human body. In a class of carcinogens, the presence of alcohol can be seen , which means that alcohol is indeed carcinogenic to the human body.

　　Globally, nearly 5.5% of cancers and 5.8% of cancer deaths are caused by alcohol. That is to say, on average, one out of every 18 cancer patients is drunk. So the question is, obviously after drinking alcohol, it will make people feel relaxed, why does it become a carcinogen?

　　1. Direct damage

　　When alcohol enters the body, it will first come into contact with the mucous membrane of the digestive tract. However, the mucous membrane of the digestive tract itself is actually very fragile. The higher the concentration of liquor, the more it will directly penetrate the protective layer of the mucous membrane, causing corrosion to the mucous membrane, leading to chronic digestive tract diseases , such as peptic ulcer, chronic inflammation, intestinal Epithelial metaplasia , etc.;

　　Next, the alcohol travels through the bloodstream, where it enters the liver and begins to be metabolized. According to relevant data surveys, 95% of the alcohol in the human body is actually decomposed in the liver.

　　During the process , whether it is alcohol or metabolites, it will cause direct toxic damage to liver cells . At the same time, alcohol can also inhibit other biotransformation functions of the liver, which in turn leads to the onset of alcoholic liver diseases, such as fatty liver, hepatitis, and cirrhosis .

　　Relevant research surveys have shown that the emergence of cancer is affected by many factors, including chronic diseases. Because after the emergence of chronic diseases, it will reduce the patient's immune function and cause repeated damage to tissue cells. The more cells divide and repair, the greater the possibility of DNA mutation, which in turn increases the possibility of cancer.

2. Toxic damage

　　In fact, alcohol itself is not considered a carcinogen, because ethanol only causes direct damage and does not cause gene mutations. The real danger is the " acetaldehyde" produced during the metabolism in the liver . After ethanol enters the liver, it will be converted into acetaldehyde under the action of alcohol dehydrogenase , and then acetaldehyde dehydrogenase will metabolize it into acetic acid .

　　Ethanol and acetic acid are relatively safe, but acetaldehyde is completely different. It can directly bind to DNA, induce cell gene mutation, and acetaldehyde can directly destroy the DNA structure of cells , and even cause serious chromosomal rearrangement;

　　What's even more frightening is that most of the Chinese people have a defect in the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase gene, which means that ethanol can be metabolized into acetaldehyde, but acetaldehyde cannot be metabolized smoothly .

　　For example, people who are prone to blush after drinking alcohol are actually due to the lack of secretion of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase in the body. In this case, acetaldehyde acts on the cells for a long time, which naturally increases the possibility of canceration.

　　In a word, alcohol is a type of carcinogen, but it does not absolutely cause cancer. Because the development of cancer is quite complicated, age, genetics, physical fitness and immunity are all involved, so not everyone will develop cancer after drinking alcohol.

　　But it cannot be denied that as long as long-term, large-scale contact with alcohol, there is a possibility of canceration. Therefore, it is necessary to quit drinking and get rid of alcohol control as soon as possible.